A visit to a complicated neighborhood

I have been asked from time to time about the climate in Jerusalem and Israel toward bilingual education and the ‘mixing’ of Arabs and Jews.  Throughout the country, there are a wide variety of opinions on the issue, and as you can imagine, I haven’t been particularly shy about asking people that I meet, if they ask me what I’m doing in Israel, what they think.    I’ve had Jewish orthodox moms say it’s a wonderful idea, I’ve been called a leftist, told it won’t work, told I’m crazy, been called a do-gooder, and once a troublemaker.  Just the other day as I explained to two fellow travelers on the bus what brought me to Jerusalem, the one woman’s body language and facial expression changed so dramatically, and her response was so negative, I was momentarily afraid she was going to, at the very least, change seats, while her companion was literally ecstatic about the schools and their potential.  I have had very real, sometimes painful conversations with people whose opinions range from it will never work, to those who wish it could, to those who feel is it the only way forward.  In this, I was not surprised.

I can’t give an exhaustive answer here, obviously, but let me take you to the neighborhood where the Jerusalem School is situated and give you a little look into some of the roadblocks. At the risk of oversimplifying the issue, walk with me to the open area just outside the school offices.  From this vantage point we can see many things that may explain why this dream is complicated. 

Looking down from the school, immediately we see the old train line that first connected Jerusalem with Jaffa over 100 years ago. The tracks are still visible but no longer carry trains, now this is a shared public walk way, the very one on which the Hand in Hand school community walked in solidarity this past summer during the war and after the arson attack last November.  

Just beyond the tracks is the memory of the green line.  I say memory because it is no longer the official separation line between Israel and its Arab neighbors established after the 1948 War of Independence, but the green line is not forgotten that easily, especially here where memories are long. The outcome of that war is still viewed as both a victory and defeat by people in these very neighborhoods.  

Green line ^ tracks in the center ^ neighborhood circled

The school sits in an Arab neighborhood, Beit Safafa that was split by that line.  Surrounding the Arab neighborhood is the Jewish Pat neighborhood, named for Yaacov Pat, a commander in the Haganah.  Not a big neighborhood where everyone lives, two distinct neighborhoods.

Gilo on the hill

Up the hill to the left is Gilo, a Jewish neighborhood or settlement, legal or illegal again, depending on your political/historical point of view, strategically placed as one of five ‘ring’ settlements and a reminder of the past for both Jews and Arabs.  Gilo is situated on the “high ground”, offering some a feeling of security that no future attacks on the city will come from that position, but it is also a constant visual reminder of what was lost.

It is all picturesque, especially on a sunny day, but behind the beautiful scene are thousands of people with their own stories, their own histories, their own dreams, just like anywhere else in the world, but here, the history of the land lends a different ingredient to the mix that makes it harder to blend.

I suspect the arson and graffiti attack in November was supposed to have a more chilling effect on us. “Allegedly” carried out by radical, anti-integration, separatist extremists (my terms), it has had a more positive effect than even we would have expected.  More people than ever now know about the schools and their purpose. Some who were on the fence or in some cases not in favor of bilingual/bicultural education have come to appreciate it in a new way and while they may not all completely agree, many are willing to allow us a seat at the table.  The visible damage has been repaired and we are moving purposefully forward.  Not, I think, what the arsonists expected, or hoped for.

Recently I offered another shopper at the grocery with only half a dozen eggs the place ahead of me in line, he declined but as we waited we visited. He asked me the blunt question I have come to expect off campus “why are you in Israel?” I told him about being a Visiting Research Fellow and my area of study, and he told me about his research about a 12^th Century Rabbi.   Then I told him about the Hand in Hand schools and my contribution there.  He recognized the school and knew about the arson, which he said was a very bad thing.  Watching for changes in body language or tone of voice, I asked him what he thought about the idea of bilingual education - of Jews and Arabs together.  He smiled and shrugged and said, “I am cosmopolitan.”  I didn’t ask him to clarify, the look on his face suggested I should understand, but I’m counting him in the “for” column.

So, all I can tell you for sure is that the vote is still out. Some are for, some are against, some don’t have an opinion, but one by one, hand in hand, so long as I’m here, I’ll keep telling the story and asking the question, “How do you feel about people getting along?”  Because really, isn’t that the point?